Tuesday, May 17, 2011

I've been trying to find a reason to blog again. So much is happening in my own life right now, I hardly have time to even THINK about getting on the computer at night when I get home from work.

So, I'll just start off lightly tonight...with a cool recipe I tried tonight.

I was reading the latest issue of my hometown newspaper -- The Levy County Journal. My dad insists on paying for my subscription each year so that I can keep up with hometown news. That works fairly well, except I don't usually GET the newspaper until a week later...sometimes two. Then sometimes it takes me another week to actually read the few pages there. So tonight, I decided to quickly read through the paper just to get it off the counter. (I have to actually READ the news stories because Daddy asks me about them...maybe its his test?)

Anyway,this week I came across a recipe that caught my eye. Normally, if it has anything GREEN in it --its an automatic "YUCK!" But tonight, for some reason, since I had all the ingredients and it looked fairly easy and I had to fix SOMETHING for supper...I thought I would give it a try. Bex and Mr. Fix-It LOVED it! I even ate some and thought it was pretty good --as long as I picked out the broccoli.

Here's the recipe from www.hungryjackpotatoes.com:

Hashbrown Broccoli Bake

1 carton (4.2 ounces) Hungry Jack Premium Hashbrown Potatoes (*My note: These come in a little carton --looks like a small milk carton like we used to get milk in at school. I just happened to pick one of these up at the store a couple of months ago and thought I would try them. They worked GREAT!)2 c. frozen broccoli florets, unthawed, or fresh florets in 1-inch pieces2 c. diced cooked chicken1/2 c. diced jarred roasted red bell pepper or fresh red bell pepper (I used the frozen bell pepper I cut up and froze when my friend T gave me a bunch of them last summer.)1/8 tsp. black pepper1 c. milk1 c. sour cream1 c. (about 3 ounces) shredded Swiss cheese (Mr. Fix-It isn't big on Swiss--so I substituted Mozzarella.)

Preparation Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Coat a 2-quart casserole dish with butter or cooking spray.2. Fill hashbrown potatoes carton to fill line with cold water. Let stand 12 minutes. Drain well in a colander. (The box said to use Hot water...so I did.)3. Mix hashbrowns, broccoli, chicken, bell pepper and black pepper in a large bowl. Spread in prepared dish.4. Stir together milk and sour cream. Pour evenly over hashbrown mixture. Top with cheese.5. Bake covered for 30 minutes. Uncover and continue baking for 15 minutes until top just begins to brown.6. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.